Friday, February 4, 2011

HALF DETAINED UNDER 287(G) PROGRAM FOR MINOR OFFENESES

According to a new report by the Immigration Policy Institute, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank, regarding the 287(g) program in the South, suggests that the program is problematic because of conflicting messages from the U.S. government and local political pressure.Overall in the United States, in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2010, about half the immigrants detained under the program for transfer to immigration authorities had been accused of serious crimes, such as rape and murder, according to ICE data. The other half had been charged with misdemeanor or civil offenses, or only immigration-related crimes. However in Cobb County, Georgia less than 10 percent(!) of those detained have been charged with serious crimes.Cobb and Gwinnett counties authorities turned over to immigration authorities nearly everyone who could be deported, most of which for small traffic offenses or immigration violations only.It's clear that the 287(g) enforcement in Georgia does not penalize most of the undocumented for being criminals -- it penalizes them for their immigration violations, which is Federal, and does not make us more secure.